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AICE Environmental Science > Unit 6 > Flashcards

Unit 6 Flashcards

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Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Mineral

A

A naturally occurring chemical element or inorganic compound that exists as a solid with a regularly repeating internal arrangement of its atoms or ions

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2
Q

Depletion time

A

The time it takes to use up a certain proportion (usually 80%) of the reserves of a mineral at a given rate of use

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3
Q

Spoils

A

A pile of waste material from surface mining

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4
Q

Mountain top removal

A
  • A surface mining method
  • Explosives are used to remove the top of a mountain to expose seams of coal
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5
Q

Smelting

A

The process of heating ores to release metals

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6
Q

Crude oil

A
  • A black, gooedy liquid containing a micture of combustible hydrocarbons along with small amounts of sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen impurities
  • Also known as conventional or light crude oil
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7
Q

Proven oil reserves

A

Known deposits from which oil can be extracted profitably at current prices using current technology

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8
Q

Natural gas

A
  • A mixture of gases of which 50-90% is methane
  • Has a medium net energy
  • Used for cooking, heating, and industrial purposes
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9
Q

Synthetic natural gas (SNG)

A
  • Gaseous coal made through coal gasification
  • Removes sulfur and other impurities
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10
Q

Ore

A

Rock that contains a large enough concentration of a particular mineral to make it profitable for mining and processing

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11
Q

Surface mining

A
  • The process by which shallow mineral deposits ar removed
  • Vegetation, soil, and rocks overlaying the deposit are cleared away
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12
Q

Open-pit mining

A

A mining process in which machinery is used to create large pits and remove metal ores

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13
Q

Subsurface mining

A
  • Mining process through which deep deposits are extracted through tunnels and shafts
  • Disturbs less than 1/10 the land that surface mining does
  • Can be more dangerous than surface mining
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14
Q

Fossil fuels

A
  • Fossilized biological material that died millions of years ago
  • A non-renewable energy source
  • Oil, natural gas, coal
  • Typically mined or drilled for
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15
Q

Petroleum

A

See Crude oil

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16
Q

Reserves

A

Identified deposits from which we can extract a mineral profitably at current prices

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17
Q

Overburden

A
  • The waste material resulting from surface mining
  • Deposited in spoils
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18
Q

Strip mining

A

The process of extracting mineral deposits that lie in large horizontal beds close to the earth’s surface

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19
Q

Tailings

A
  • The rock waste materials produced from ores
  • Left in piles or put into ponds
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20
Q

Energy density

A

The amount of energy available per kilogram of an energy resource

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21
Q

Peak production

A

The point in time where the pressure in an oil well drops and the rate of crude oil production begins to decline

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22
Q

Energy effiicency

A

A measure of how much useful work we can get from each unit of energy

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23
Q

Energy conservation

A

Reducing or eliminating the unnecessary waste of energy

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24
Q

Cogeneration

A

A process used to produce two useful forms of energy from the same fuel source

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25
Q

Electric grid

A

An interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers

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26
Q

Green roofs

A
  • Roofs covered with specially designed soil and vegetation that is watered with automated drip irrigation
  • Reduce heating and cooling costs by absorbing heat from the sun, insulating the building, and retaining heat
  • Also called living roofs
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27
Q

Superinsulation

A
  • A method of building design that uses higher levels of insulation and airtightness than normal
  • Allows a building to be heated without a backup heating system
  • Example: straw-bale construction, where house walls are built of straw bales that are covered with mud-based adobe bricks
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28
Q

Passive solar heating

A

A system designed to collect, store, and distribute heat from the sun within a well-insulated, airtight structure

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29
Q

Active solar heating

A
  • A system that captures energy from the sun by pumping heat-absorbing fluids such as water or an antifreeze solution through special collectors
  • Collectors are usually mounted on the roof
30
Q

Solar thermal systems

A
  • Systems which use different methods to collect and concentrate solar energy to boil water and produce steam for generating electricity
  • Can be used in deserts and open areas with ample sunlight
  • Also called concentrated solar power (CSP)
31
Q

Photovoltaic cells

A
  • Cells that can convert dolar energy directly into eletricity
  • Thin transparent wafers of purified silicon or polycrystalline silicon
  • Commonly called solar cells
32
Q

Solar powered microgrids

A

An electric grid in which a centralied group of solar cell panels are connected by cable to a few dozen homes and local businesses

33
Q

Turbine

A
  • A machine used to convert wind into electricity
  • Wind causes the three blades to spin, driving an electric generator to produce electricity
  • Many turbines can be combined to create wind farms
34
Q

Geothermal energy

A
  • Heat stored in soil, underground rocks, and fluids in the earth’s mantle
  • Used to heat and cool buildings and to heat water to produce electricity
35
Q

Hydrothermal reservoirs

A
  • A deeper, more concentrated reserve of geothermal energy
  • Wells are drilled into them to extract dry steam, wet steam, or hot water
36
Q

Biomass

A
  • Organic matter found in plants, plant and animal wastes, and plant products
  • Examples: Wood, wood pellets, wood wastes, charcoal made from wood, agricultural wastes (sugarcane stalks, rice husks, corncobs)
37
Q

Ethanol

A
  • Ethyl alcohol produced from plants and plant wastes
  • A liquid biofuel
38
Q

Biodiesel

A
  • Produced from vegetables
  • A liquid biofuel
39
Q

Hydropower

A
  • Any technology that uses kinetic energy of flowing and falling water to produce electricity
  • A renewable energy source
40
Q

Tidal energy

A
  • The energy from ocean tides and waves
  • A form of hydropower
41
Q

Negative net energy

A

Of an energy source, when it takes more energy to produce the energy source than the source itself provides

42
Q

Full cost pricing

A

Setting market prices of goods and services to include hidden harmful environmental and health costs of producing and using them

43
Q

Placer deposits

A
  • A category of material mined from the Earth
  • Loose sands, river gravel, unconsolidated materials
44
Q

Lode deposits

A
  • A category of material mined from the Earth
  • Veins of minerals or resources in the Earth that have to be dug out
45
Q

Eluviation

A
  • The transport of eroded materials and soil components down slopes
  • “Eluviation” leads to “iluviate” placer deposits
46
Q

Tiers of aged coal

A
  1. Peat (not a coal): partially decayed plant matter in swamps and bogs, low heat content
  2. Lignite (brown coal): low heat content, low sulfur content, limited supply in most areas
  3. Bituminous (soft coal): extensively used as a fuel (high heat content, large supplies), high heat sulfur content
  4. Anthracite (hard coal): high heat content, low sulfur content, limited supply in most areas
47
Q

Renewable resoucres

A

Resources that are either unlimited or able to be replenishsed within a human lifespan (30-70 years)

48
Q

Nonrenewable resources

A

Resoucres that are not able to be replenished or whose replacement time is so long that its negligible

49
Q

Mining

A

The extraction of any valuable mineral or resource from the Earth

50
Q

Placer deposits

A

loose sands, river gravel, uinconsolidated materials

51
Q

Lode deposits

A

Veins of mineral or resources that have to be dug out

52
Q

Eluviation

A

The transport of eroded mineral and soil components down slopes

53
Q

Problems with fossil fuels

A
  • Both extraction and consumption are dirty, energy-expensive processes
  • World dependencies focus on nonrenewable fossil fuels
  • Relied upon in economic sectors that make them harder to replace
  • Pollution
54
Q

Benefits of fossil fuels

A
  • Often most efficient for their job
    • Gasoline is compact, ignites quickly, has lots of energy
    • Coal is easy to transport, has lots of energy
  • Until recently, easy to extract
  • Value exceeds manufacturing costs
55
Q

Coal

A

Solid fuel primarily from plants

56
Q

Four tiers of coal

A
  • Lignite (brown coal): low heat content, low sulfur content, limited supplies
  • Sub-bituminous
  • Bituminous (soft coal): used as a fuel (high heat content/large supplies), high sulfur content
  • Anthracite (hard coal): desirable for fuel (high heat content/low sulfur content), limited supplies
57
Q

Peat

A
  • Partially decayed plant matter in swamps and bogs
  • Precursor of coal
  • Often extracted from bogs
58
Q

Coal advantages

A
  • Cheap to extract
  • Easy to transport via surface infrastructure
  • Accessible
59
Q

Coal disadvantages

A
  • Chemical impurities cause atmosphere pollution (sulfur, lead, mercury, arsenic, etc)
  • Remanents of ash difficult to dispose
60
Q

Petroleum

A

Fluid fossil fuel found in underground reservoirs

61
Q

Petroleum advantages

A
  • Convenient for transport/use
  • Ideal for mobile combustion engines
  • Produces only about 15% less CO2 emissions than coal
62
Q

Petroleum disadvantages

A
  • Poisonous trace components
  • Oil drilling seeps oil into the environment in catastrophic quantities
  • Drilling destroys habitats, fragile ecosystems, etc
63
Q

Crude oil

A
  • Liquid petroleum pulled straight from the Earth
  • Refined into various materials: tar, kerosene, diesel, asphalt
63
Q

Natural gas

A
  • Gaseous fossil fuels
  • 80-95% methane, 5-20% ethane/propane/butane
64
Q

Natural gas advantages

A
  • Extensive pipelines make it available to about half of America
  • Fewer impurities
  • Emits virtually no SO2 in combustion
  • Emits 40% less CO2 than coal
65
Q

Natural gas disadvantages

A
  • A greenhouse gas
  • Mining is potentially dangerous to the environment (groundwater contamination)
66
Q

Oil/tar sands

A
  • Viscous sands mixed with bitumen
  • Mining is more labor intensive
  • 12% higher CO2 emissions than coal
67
Q

Bitumen

A
  • Degraded petroleum
  • Called pitch/tar when close to the surface
68
Q

Keystone XL pipeline

A

Designed to transport 830,000 barrels of Alberta tar sands to Texas refineries

69
Q

Liquified coal

A
  • Liquid coal converted via CTL (coal to liquid) tech
  • Heavily restricted in China + USA due to large coal reserved
  • Many of the same drawbacks of tar sands + coal mining/CTL is dirty
70
Q

Hubbert curve

A
  • Predicts when we will reach peak oil
  • An approximation of the production rate of a resource over time
  • Created by geophysicist M. King Hubbert
71
Q

Peak oil

A

Extraction and use of oil begin to decline

AICE Environmental Science (7 decks)

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